Getting the flavour of…
Milan’s renaissance Though “elegant”, Milan has never been exactly “fun”. But that is now changing, says Mia Aimaro Ogden in The Sunday Times. It all started at the city’s greatest art gallery, the Pinacoteca di Brera. Founded by Napoleon, who wanted it to be the “Louvre of Italy”, the museum has recently had a revamp, with new attractions including a studio where you can watch restorers working on paintings by Old Masters. Now, its rebirth is creating a “ripple” effect across the surrounding neighbourhood, Brera, which has come to be regarded as the “funkiest” area in the city. Highlights include the Bioesserì restaurant, at the forefront of the eco food trend; Pisacco, a bar where the walls are painted with “a riot of flowers”; and a constantly shifting set of “edgy” boutiques, including 10 Corso Como, the “chicest concept store in Europe”. Bellini Travel (020 7602 7602, www.bellinitravel.com) has three nights at the Mandarin Oriental from £1,455, incl. airport transfers. Tracking wolves in the snow There’s no guarantee you’ll find a wolf on a winter wolf-tracking holiday in France’s Southern Alps, but the trip is rewarding in itself, says Simon Birch in The Independent. Wolves were wiped out in France in the 1930s but re-entered from Italy in the 1990s, and are now concentrated here. Guests stay in a “tiny”, stone-built mountain refuge in a vast forest, an hour’s drive from the town of Gap. Recent signs of the animals (footprints, hairs, droppings) are a thrill to find, and lend a sense of purpose to daily walks – guided by wildlife experts – in this astonishing wilderness, which is also home to roe deer, chamois and golden eagles. A three-day trip costs from about £490pp, excluding flights (0345009 8501, www.undiscoveredalps.com).
High culture in the Andes Perched high in the mountains of northwest Colombia, Medellín was once “a byword for narco-terrorism and the drugs overlord Pablo Escobar”. But in recent years this colourful metropolis has undergone profound changes, says Emma Tucker in The Times: it is now a “civilised hub”, safe to visit and with thriving art and food scenes. At new restaurants such as Oci and Carmen, young chefs are reinventing the nation’s cuisine, drawing on rare fruits, plants and fish from the Amazon and Pacific. There are excellent museums, including a grand 19th century art gallery (the Museum of Antioquia), and the moving House of Memory, dedicated to the country’s civil war. And with its balmy climate, the city has much to offer cyclists and hikers, especially in Arví Park, a mountain nature reserve famed for its orchids. Dehouche (0871-284 7770, www.dehouche.com) has a seven-night trip, also taking in Cartagena, from £2,490pp, including flights.